Baalke: No decision yet on whether McDonald plays Sunday

SANTA CLARA -- The 49ers currently are in “fact finding mode” when it comes to defensive end Ray McDonald, general manager Trent Baalke said this morning, and no decision has been made yet whether McDonald will play Sunday in Dallas.

SANTA CLARA -- The 49ers currently are in “fact finding mode” when it comes to defensive end Ray McDonald, general manager Trent Baalke said this morning, and no decision has been made yet whether McDonald will play Sunday in Dallas.

Baalke did say that McDonald was practicing as usual today.

“Right now it's a legal matter,” Baalke said. “And there's such a thing called due process, and we intend on letting that play out.”

Baalke said that he had a “lengthy conversation” Monday and today with McDonald, who was arrested early Sunday morning after an incident involving his fiancee at his San Jose home. Baalke seemed to support head coach Jim Harbaugh's stance, given this morning on KNBR radio, that anyone guilty of domestic violence will be cut from the team.

“This is certainly something that hits home for me,” Baalke said. “I've got two daughters myself. Domestic violence is unacceptable and certainly won't be tolerated.”

As far as Sunday's game, Baalke said the team will continue to gather information that will determine whether McDonald plays.

“We'll have more knowledge later today and certainly more knowledge the next day moving forward,” he said. “Nothing's been determined at this point.”

Outside linebacker Aldon Smith played in a game two days after his DUI arrest last September. Baalke, however, said that would not be used as a precedent and that the cases would be treated as separate matters. If McDonald doesn’t play, Tony Jerod-Eddie likely would start at left defensive end in his place.

About This Blog

Matt Barrows was born in Blacksburg, Va., and attended the University of Virginia. He graduated in 1995, went to Northwestern for a journalism degree a year later, and got his first job at a South Carolina daily in 1997. He joined The Sacramento Bee as a Metro reporter in 1999 and started covering the San Francisco 49ers in 2003. His favorite player of all time is Darrell Green. Reach Barrows at mbarrows@sacbee.com.
Twitter: @mattbarrows